Opera CEO Prepares to Swim across the Atlantic

rRogta writes "Previously reported on slashdot here, Opera CEO boldly promises to swim across the Atlantic should the new Opera browser be downloaded a million times in the first four days after it's release. Well, they reached their goal and in this press release it says he's now preparing for the long swim."

don't you think....

[Anonymous Coward]

this is one of the big problems with 'good' software. we always try to promise about 500000% more then we can deliver.

I call shenanigans!

[REggert]

From TFA:

Jon is assisted by Opera's PR manager who will be rowing alongside the adventurous CEO in the company inflatable raft on the trip across the Atlantic as an act of guilt after making the CEO's statement public. The fearless crew is currently on its way to an undisclosed location in the Oslo fjord to begin the long journey toward America in the true spirit of the Vikings before them.

The author busted his cheek with his tongue, I think.

Re:How the heck?

[Anonymous Coward]

A good semi-dry suit would do it. Just a wet suit with decreased water flow through it, for colder water. The problem is that he's gonna need a life-jacket too, because there's no way he's swimming that much.

one timer

[dhuv]

When will these people realize that you can only make these kinds of statements once. If you cannot follow through, the next time you make a statement like this, no one will care.

Re:What about sales?

[Anonymous Coward]

As ad revenue is part of their business model, I don't see why.

Re:Tragedy in the making

[digidave]

"It could take days, or weeks"

Or months. Have you any idea how big the Atlantic Ocean is?

Something tells me..

[phuturephunk]

That he should wait until spring..Ya'no, because that whole North sea leg (not to mention the stretch in the north Atlantic) would be somewhat chilly..to say the least.

Re:What about sales?

[physicsphairy]

Given Opera's business model, shouldn't he have tied this stunt to sales rather than downloads?

In a word, no. That would make a horrible salespitch. I'm not going to fork over money for a product I would not otherwise buy just to vote yes to the swim!

On the other hand, a download is not big deal. And once I download the product, I might be like "Hey! Cool!" and decide to buy it. Even if not, at least the product is getting some good exposure.

Deriving sales from stunts like this is rarely straight forward.

They're planning on a loooong trip

[hugesmile]

From TFA:

The next update on the remarkable and heroic journey will be available here on Tuesday, April 25, at 10:00 am CET (04:00 am EST).

Tuesday April 25 is a year from today!

Prediction

[Spy der Mann]

There'll be a boat next to him. Around the 5th km, he'll give up, and say: "Well, at least I tried". Then he'll become an Icon of "you never know until you try", and a whole marketing campaign will rise from this.

Norway, Maine

[Xian97]

Maybe he will try to swim across Pennesseewassee Lake in Norway, Maine to keep his promise of swimming from Norway to the US.

While undoubtably a publicity stunt, it's nice to hear that Opera 8 had 1,000,000 downloads. I have been a fan of it for years and use it as my primary browser. Although it is not Open Source they support more Operating Systems than any other browser - I even remember running a BeOS version years ago.

Re:How the heck?

[morticus]

I surf during all weather condtions with just a 4mm fullsuit. It utilizes fluid sealed seams, blind-stiching and blind-zipper to limit flushing. Honestly, 55F with a decent wetsuit is actually quite comfortable, you don't overheat during excessive paddling. When it drops lower, the booties, gloves and sometimes 2nd layer come in.

Re:How the heck?

[ckaminski]

The North Atlantic is ALWAYS cold.

Re:Something tells me..

[bluGill]

He had better start training now. Something like 2 hours/day in the pool, and one day a week make that 8. (But he should have a professional design the training program, not someone like me who doesn't know how to design such a thing)

And he needs to spend a few hours a day getting supplies planned. He will want to eat along the way. I presume that row-boat will hold a few days supplies, and every few days someone will come along (how?) to give them more.

Considering the length of the trip he needs to leave as soon as he can safely swim or it will be winter when he arrives, and that may not be any easier. Though I don't know ocean temperatures.

I hope he makes it!

Re:Something tells me..

[ckaminski]

If he swam 6-8 hours a day, and the rest of the day slept and rowed across the Atlantic, I personally would consider his bet fulfilled. Man's got to sleep sometime, and the Gulf Stream is going to lose him every mile he fights for.

Hell, if he started from Cape Cod, he could FLOAT across in a couple months given enough food and hot water.

Re:not sure about that

[delta_avi_delta]

I'll give you a clue - you can stick your hand into an oven at 100 degrees very safely, but you can't stick your hand into a pot of boiling water :)

Re:Ummm...

[2short]

OK, adding gulf stream velocity, including when he was resing in the boat, gets the numbers in the right ballpark. But that means the gulf stream provided much more of the propulsion than he did.
It's an impressive feat to be sure, but it seems it would be most accurate to say he swam a lot while floating across the Atlantic in a boat. Most of his distance would have been covered while in the boat.

Re:Two Words of Advice

[the pickle]

In the Bering Sea, corpses make life jackets float. ;)

p

Re:How the heck?

[Anonymous Coward]

Longest swimming events take 20 minutes. And ~70 would be best for a swim this long. Anything above 75, and you'll quickly get too hot - I would know, my home pool is at 83, and that feels just steamy during a race. At anything less than about 70, you'll start having to shiver to keep warm, which is bad for swimming. Again - I would know, Ive done sub 50 degree long distance races. Main problem for a trip like this would be sleep I would think. Unless he's allowed to stop of course. Food, water, and bathroom should be able to be taken care of in the water, but sleep just can't be done in the water.